hikikomori definition dissertation

Hikikomori (ひきこもり or 引き籠もり Hikikomori, actually “pulling inward, being confined”, i. elizabeth., “acute interpersonal withdrawal”) is known as a Japanese term to refer towards the phenomenon of reclusive teenagers or adults who withdraw from social life, frequently seeking intense degrees of remoteness and confinement. The term hikikomori refers to the sociological happening in general as well as to people belonging to this societal group.

Definition

Japan Ministry of Health, Time and Welfare defines hikikomori as people that refuse to keep their house and, thus, isolate themselves from society inside their homes for any period exceeding beyond six months.

[1] The psychiatrist Tamaki Saitō identifies hikikomori as “A claim that has become a problem by the later twenties, which involves cooping yourself up in their own home and not participating in society for 6 months or for a longer time, but that does not apparently have another psychological issue as its principal source. “[2]

More recently, experts have recommended six specific criteria required to “diagnose” hikikomori: 1) spending most of the working day and nearly every day limited to home, 2) marked and chronic avoidance of social circumstances, 3) symptoms interfering considerably with the individual’s normal regimen, occupational (or academic) working, or social activities or relationships, 4) perceiving the withdrawal since ego-syntonic, 5) duration in least six months, and 6) no various other mental disorder that accounts for the social withdrawal and avoidance.

[3] While the level of the sensation varies by using an individual basis, in the the majority of extreme cases, some people stay in isolation for a long time or even years. Often hikikomori start out while school refusals, or futōkō (不登校) in Japanese (an older term is tōkōkyohi (登校拒否)). The Ministry of Health quotes that about 3, 600, 000 hikikomori live in Asia,[4] about 1 / 3 of who are older 30 and older.

Prevalent traits

While many people feel the pressures in the outside community, hikikomori behave by complete social drawback. In some cases, they lock themselves in their place, apartment or house pertaining to prolonged periods, sometimes tested in years.[5] They usually have few, if any, good friends. While hikikomori favor interior activities, some venture outside on occasion.[6] The withdrawal by society usually starts gradually. Affected persons may seem unhappy, lose their friends, become unconfident, shy, and talk less.

Prevalence

In respect to federal government figures released in 2010, there are 700, 500 individuals living as hikikomori with a typical age of 23.[7] Still, the numbers change widely from expert to expert. Between these are the hikikomori which might be now in their 40s and possess spent 20 years in seclusion, this group is generally called the “firstgeneration hikikomori, ” and there is matter about their reintegration into society in what is referred to as “the 2030 problem, ” when they are in their 60s and the parents continue to die away.[7]

Additionally the authorities estimates 1 ) 55 million people to be on the edge of becoming hikikomori.[7] Originally psychiatrist Tamaki Saitō, who 1st coined the phrase, estimated that there may be over a million hikikomori in Japan, or roughly 1% of the total Japan population, but considering that hikikomori adolescents happen to be hidden away and their parents are typically reluctant to talk about the problem, it is extremely difficult to determine the number effectively.[8] People who have every one of the characteristics of a Hikikomori also have begun to emerge in France plus the USA.[9] 2/9

Hypotheses on trigger

PDDs and autism spectrum disorders

Hikikomori is similar to the interpersonal withdrawal exhibited by some individuals with pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs), a group of disorders including Asperger affliction, PDD-NOS and “classic” autism. This has led some psychiatrists to claim that hikikomori affected individuals may be troubled by PDDs and also other disorders that affect interpersonal integration, yet that their very own disorders are altered using their typical European presentation because of the social and cultural pressures unique to Japan.[10] Suwa & Hara (2007) discovered that 5 of 27 instances of hikikomori had a high-functioning pervasive developmental disorder (HPDD) and applied a vignette to demonstrate the difference between primary hikikomori (without virtually any obvious mental disorder) and hikikomori with HPDD; furthermore, 10 out of 28 had primary hikikomori.[11]

In accordance to Eileen Zielenziger’s publication, Shutting the actual Sun: How Japan Created its Own Shed Generation, the syndrome is more closely related to Posttraumatic anxiety disorder. The author claimed which the hikikomori evaluated for the book acquired discovered impartial thinking and a sense of home that the current Japanese environment could not cater to. The problem also closely parallels the terms “avoidant personality disorder” and “social anxiety disorder” (also generally known as “social phobia”).

Social and cultural affect

Sometimes referred to as a interpersonal problem in Japanese discourse, hikikomori has a number of possible contributing factors. Nevertheless acute sociable withdrawal in Japan appears to affect both equally genders evenly, because of differing social anticipations for maturation boys and girls, one of the most widely reported cases of hikikomori happen to be from middle- and upper-middle-class families whose sons, typically their eldest, refuse to leave the home, generally after experiencing one or more distressing episodes of social or academic failure. In The Anatomy of Dependence (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1973, converted by David Bester), Takeo Doi recognizes the symptoms of hikikomori, and explains it is prevalence as originating in the Japanese psychological build of amae (in Freudian terms, “passive object love”, typically from the kind among mother and infant).

Additional Japanese bloggers such as academics Shinji Miyadai and author Ryū Murakami, have also provided analysis with the hikikomori sensation, and find specific causal human relationships with the contemporary Japanese sociable conditions of anomie, amae and atrophying paternal effect in elemental family child pedagogy. Adults may truly feel overwhelmed by modern Japanese society, or perhaps be unable to match their predicted social roles as they haven�t yet created a sense of personal honne and tatemae – one’s “true self” and one’s “public façade” – necessary to manage the paradoxes of adulthood.

The major nexus of hikikomori centers on the modification from youth to the responsibilities and objectives of mature life. Symptoms are that advanced industrialised societies including modern The japanese fail to offer sufficient significant transformation traditions for marketing certain susceptible types of youth in mature tasks. As do various societies, Asia exerts a great deal of pressure upon adolescents to be successful and perpetuate the existing interpersonal status quo. A historically strong focus on en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hikikomori complex social conduct, rigid hierarchies and the resulting, potentially intimidating multitude of social expectations, tasks and responsibilities in solid emphasis on intricate social perform, rigid hierarchies and the producing, potentially daunting multitude of social expectations,  responsibilities and obligations in Japanese society play a role in this pressure on adults.[12] Historically, Confucian teachings not stressing the individual and favoring a conformist stance to ensure cultural harmony within a rigidly hierarchized society have got shaped much of the Sinosphere, perhaps explaining the emergence from the hikikomori happening in other East Asian countries.

On the whole, the frequency of hikikomori tendencies in Japan could possibly be encouraged and facilitated by simply three main factors: 1 . Middle school affluence in a post-industrial contemporary society such as Asia allows father and mother to support and feed the child in your own home indefinitely. Lower-income families do not have hikikomori children because a socially withdrawing junior is forced to work outside the house.[13] 2 . The inability of Japanese parents to realize and do something about the youth’s slide into isolation; soft parenting; or maybe a codependent complicit� between mom and boy, known as amae in Japanese.[14] 3. Ten years of smooth economic indicators and a shaky job market in The japanese makes the pre-existing system needing years of competitive schooling pertaining to elite careers appear like a pointless hard work to many.[15]

When Japanese dads of the current generation of youth even now enjoy life-time employment at multinational corporations, incoming staff in The japanese enjoy simply no such assures in today’s job market.[16] (See Freeters and NEET for more about this. ) Some younger Japanese people people start to suspect that the device put in place because of their grandfathers and fathers not anymore works,[17] and for some, the possible lack of a clear lifestyle goal causes them to be susceptible to social withdrawal as being a hikikomori. Western education system See as well: Kyoiku mama The Japanese education system, just like those present in China, Singapore and To the south Korea, sets great needs upon junior. A multitude of expectations, high emphasis on competition, and the rote memory of details and characters for the purpose of passing entrance tests into the subsequent tier of education in what could be called a stiff pass-or-fail ideology, induce if you are a00 of tension.

Echoing the conventional Confucian beliefs of world, the educational system is still considered as playing an essential part in society’s general productivity and success.[18] In this social frame, students generally face significant pressure via parents plus the society generally to comply with its dictates and projet.[19] These doctrines, while part of modern Western society, will be increasingly staying rejected by Japanese youth in differing ways such as hikikomori, freeter, NEET (ofcourse not currently engaged in Employment, Education, or Training), and vermine singles.

The definition of “Hodo-Hodo zoku” (the “So-So tribe”) applies to younger employees who decline promotion to be able to minimize pressure and improve free time. From the 60s, the pressure on Japanese youth to have success began consecutively, sequentially earlier in their lives, occasionally starting before pre-school, wherever even toddlers had to contend through an entrance exam to get the advantage of participating in one of the best pre-schools. This was said to prepare kids for the entrance exam of the best pre-school, which in turn well prepared the child pertaining to the entrance exam of the finest primary college, junior secondary school, high school, and in the end for en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hikikomori their university or college entrance test.[20] Many teenagers take twelve months off after high school to examine exclusively pertaining to the university entrance examination, and are generally known as ronin.[21]

Even more prestigious colleges have more challenging exams. One of the most prestigious university with the hardest exam is definitely the University of Tokyo. For more than 10 years, the Japanese Ministry of Education has used steps to address this ‘pressure-cooker’ educational environment and infuse greater creative thought in Japanese junior by considerably relaxing the college schedule by six working day weeks to five day weeks and dropping two subjects from the daily routine, with fresh academic curricula more comparable to Western educational models.

However , Japanese mother and father are sending youngsters to personal cram colleges, known as juku, to ‘make up’ to get lost period. After graduating from high school or perhaps university, Japanese youth also have to face a really difficult job market in Japan, often getting only part-time employment and ending up because freeters with little income, unable to take up a family.[22] One more source of pressure is from other co-students, who may harass and ansto� (ijime) some students for the variety of causes, including looks (especially if they happen to be overweight and have absolutely severe acne pimples problems), riches, educational or athletic overall performance. Some have been completely punished for bullying or truancy, delivering shame to their families. Refusal to be involved in society makes hikikomori an extreme subset of the much larger band of younger Japanese people that includes vermine singles and freeters.

Monetary

Hikikomori tend to be monetarily supported by their particular parents, or by obtaining social assistance. They seldom work seeing that jobs usually require socialization. Although exceptional, some hikikomori have become extremely wealthy. For example , starting with 1 . 6 million yen (apr. US$14, 000) in 2150, Takashi Kotegawa (Japanese: 小手 川 隆) grew his account inside the JASDAQ Investments Exchange 12, 000 flip over 7 years to 17 billion yen (apr. US$152 million). This individual first received fame in Japan after he were able to profit a couple of billion yen (apr. US$20 million) in 10 minutes via a Mizuho Securities buy blunder[23]

Western financial crisis

A lot of organizations such as the non-profit Western organization NPO lila have been trying to fight the monetary burden the hikikomori phenomenon has had upon Japan’s economic climate.[24]

In well-liked culture

Hikikomori characters have been prominently featured in recent Japan media.[citation needed] The 2002 novel Meet to the N. H. E. stars one particular, and the june 2006 manga series Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei has one of the teacher key character’s learners as one. The two stories have obtained popular cartoons adaptations. Additional examples include the key characters of Anohana: The Flower We all Saw That Day and Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko. The 2006 manga series Onani Master sobre. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hikikomori

Kurosawa includes a main personality that becomes one and concentrates on how it influences her relatives.[citation needed] Inside the 2011 new Ready Gamer One, a pair of Kurosawa incorporates a main figure that becomes one and concentrates on just how it impacts her relatives.[citation needed] In the 2011 story Ready Participant One, a pair of the supplementary characters will be hikikomori, and the events with the novel allegedly caused the amount of hikikomori young men and women to boost by “millions. “[25]

See also

Hikikomori-related Japanese people terms

Amae Freeter Fushūgaku Kodokushi NEET Vermine singles

Hikikomori-related disorders

Agoraphobia Asperger problem Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) Avoidant character disorder Body dysmorphic disorder Delayed sleeping phase affliction Depression Dysthymia PDD-NOS Content traumatic pressure disorder Schizoid personality disorder Shyness Sociable anxiety disorder Cultural phobia Taijin kyofusho sobre. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hikikomori 6/9

Hikikomori-related terms

Cocooning Hermit Loner Isolation Quarter your life crisis Otage Resocialization Institution refusal Selective mutism Waste society Isolation Twixter UFSI[26]

References

1 . ^ Itou, Junichirou. 2003. Shakaiteki Hikikomori Wo Meguru Tiiki Seisin Hoken Katudou Zero Guide-line (Guideline on Mental Health Actions in Areas for Social Withdrawal). ” Tokyo: Ministry of Overall health, Labor, and Welfare. 2 . ^ Saitō, Tamaki. 2012. Social Drawback: Adolescence endlessly. Trans. Jeffrey Angles. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 3. ^ Teo, Alan R and Albert Gaw. 2010. Hikikomori, a Japanese Culture-Bound

Syndrome of Social Revulsion? A Pitch for DSM-5. ” Record of Nervous and Mental Disease 198(6): 444-449. 4. ^ http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/02/06/japan-has-3600000-hikikomori/ 5. ^ Teo, Alan R. 2012. Social remoteness associated with depressive disorder: A case survey of hikikomori. ” Intercontinental Journal of Social Psychiatry. 6. ^ http://vickery.dk/hikikomori 7. ^ a b c Hoffman, Michael. ” non-profits in The japanese help ‘shut-ins’ get out into the open” (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fd20111009bj.html). The Japan Occasions Online. The Japan Moments. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fd20111009bj.html. Retrieved 21 Oct 2011. 8. ^ Saitō, Tamaki. 98. Hikikomori kyūshutsu manyuaru (How to Save Your Child by “Hikikomori”). Tokyo: PHP Kenkyūjo. 9. ^ “Des catastrophe d’hikikomori en France”, Le Monde, Science & Techno section, g. 3, 06 9, 2012 10. ^ Kary, Big t., Total New moon of the Son: Why are countless Japanese young ones hiding by friends and family? (http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-2550.html), Psychology Today Magazine, Jan/Feb 2003 14. ^ Suwa, Mami; Koichi Hara (2007-03-01). “‘Hikikomori’among Youngsters in The japanese: The importance of differential analysis between principal Hikikomori and Hikikomori with High-functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders. ” (http://aska-r.aasa.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10638/956/1/0026-003-200703-094-101.pdf). 医療 福祉研究 (Medical and Welfare Research) 3: 94–101. ISSN 1349-7863 (//www.worldcat.org/issn/1349-7863). http://askaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori 7/9

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